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BAA. SMITH. APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND REFRIGERATING. No. 596,386.

Patented Dec. 28,1897.

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UNITE STATES ATENT Prion,

- BERNHARD ALEXANDER SMITH, OF MELBOURNE, VICTORIA.

APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND REFRIGERATING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 596,386, dated December 28, 1897.

Zo all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNHARD ALEXAN- DER SMITH, a subject of -the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of Collins Street, Melbourne, in the Colony of'Victoria, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Apparatus for Cooling and Refrigerating, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 11,373, dated June 11, 1895,) of which the following is a specification. I

This invention has been devised to provide improvements in the method or process of cooling and refrigerating any fluid medium, such as air or suitable liquids, for the preservation of perishable produce and in general for cooling and refrigerating for other requirements.

Theinvention is based upon the fact that atmospheric air when compressed and then cooled will, upon such air being made to perform mechanical work during its expansion, have its temperature lowered, and will consequently lower the temperature of bodies in contact with it, owing to the absorption by such expanded air of heat from bodies in its particular locality.

In order that my invention may be the more easily understood, reference may be made to the accompanying drawing, consisting of a plan View, partly in section, of a two-step plant embodying my improvements, and in which A is a stop-Valve of any approved design, and B an air-inlet valve set within the pipe B, leading into a double-action air-compression cylinder 0.

, D is a tube or pipe leading from the corn pression-cylinder G into a horizontal surface condenser E. This condenser E is preferably constructed of longitudinal horizontal tubes, as E, secured into'the end plates E and inclosed in a sealed cell or chamber of staunch Applioation filed June 17, 1895. fierial No. 553,122. (No model.) Patented in England June 11, 1895, No. 11,373.

drawing the liquid preferably from the lower and injecting it into the upper portion of such tank. L is another return pipe or duct joining K with a double-acting expansion-cylinder M.

The cylinders M and G are placed in line and provided witha through piston-rod M, connecting them direct with the steam-engine G, and on this piston-rod are mounted pistons of any suitable design.

N is a lead-away pipe from the aforesaid expansion-cylinder M to a horizontal cylin' drical refrigerator 0. This latter is similarly constructed to the condensers E and K, hereinbefore referred to.

P is a return tube or duct leading back to another double action expansion-cylinder Q. This cylinder Q is similar in its construction and working to the cylinder M, before describ'ed,and its piston-rod Q likewise proceeds through the cylinder 0 and steam-cylinder of engine 0.

R is also a lead-away tube connecting the cylinder Q with the refrigerator S, while T is the terminal return-tube leading toward the cylinder 0, first hereinbefore described, and in and to the latter portion of which are set the cock A, air-valve B, and final connectingpipe B.

U U U U are appliances, such as fans or blowers, for circulating the air used as a refrigerating medium through the tubes of the condensers O S in such a manner that such refrigerating medium, when chilled, will uniformly and efficiently circulate around or through the produce rooms or chambers V, preferably in the direction shown by the arrows.

V V are chambers constructed of any approved material, in which the produce or other matters requiring cooling or refrigeration are placed, and although I have shown an open air-passage between such said chambers V V and the outer walls W W, I would have it distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to any arbitrary adherence to such arrangement-as, for instance, I may in some cases cause main-trunk tubes to convey the refrigerating medium through the building, and from such main trunk I may lead branch pipes provided with shutters, stop-cocks, or the like for turning on and off the supply of such refrigerating medium in accordance with requirements at the discretion of the operator.

Vith reference to the steam-engine cylinders O and G, I would have it distinctly understood that while preferring the piston-rods M and Q to proceed through the cylinders placed in line therewith I may alternatively employ other operating-gear-such as a pulley-shaft, for instance, on which may be mounted cranks with connecting-rods-in lieu of the direct motion of the steam-pistons, and, further, expansion cylinders may be connected by any suitable gear from a shaft in connection with the compression-cylinders.

The modus operandi of my invention may be described as follows: Referring to the drawing herewith of a twostep plant, the same has been designed to pump up three million heat-units per day (pound degree centigrade) from a refrigerator at a temperature of 14 centigrade (260 absolute) to a source viz., the tank of cooling-water E at a temperature of 21 centigrade, (295 absolute.) I am presuming that a tank of cooling-water be employed in connection with the condensers E K; but in the case of plants on board ship the source referred to is the sea-water at the depth at which it is drawn into the circulating-pumps, hercinbefore referred to.

To charge the plant with air, the stop-valve A is closed and the air-inlet valve at B is opened. If thought necessary or desirable, the air may be dried by any approved apparatus, such as asbestos soaked in sulfuric acid, on its way to the inlet-valve 13. Steam is turned on in the cylinders C and G and the plant set Working and continued at Work till the gage-pressure on the condenser side of the stop-valve A has reached the initial pressure at which the plant is required to workabout forty pounds per square inch absolute.

IVhen the plant has been charged with air up to the initial pressure, the inlet-valve B is closed, the stop-valve A opened, and the engines 0 G work at the required speed to maintain the temperature necessary. When the temperatures at the various parts of the cycle have reached their working values, the temperature of the air just before entering the first compression-cylinder O is a little below the temperature of the refrigerating roo1n'--namely, 252 absolute, as against a temperature of 260 absolute in the refrigerating-room. The air is compressed in the cylinder 0 till it reaches a pressure of about eighty-seven pounds per square inch absolute and a temperature of 315 absolute, when the outlet-valves open and the air is forced out of the low-pressure compressor 0 through the exhaust-pipe D into the surface condenser E.

The air is then cooled to a temperature of about 299 absolute by means of the water circulating through the tubes E in the condenser E while on its passage to pipe F. The air thus cooled passes thence through the pipe F and is admitted to the second compressor G through suitable inlet-valves. It is there compressed to a higher pressure, in this case amounting to one hundred and four pounds persquare inch absolute and a temperature of 315 absolute. Thence it passes through pipe II to the second surface condenser K, where again the circulation of water through the pipes E in the condenser K cools the air to a temperature of about 299 absolute during its passage from pipe 11 to pipe L. The air, thus having been cooled after each compression, is reduced down to a temperature nearly equal to that of the cooling-water, which is supposed to be at a temperature of 295 absolute. From the pipe L the compressed air at a pressure of one hundred and four pounds per square inch absolute is passed into the first expanding-cylinder M, where it expands till its pressure falls to forty-eight pounds per square inch absolute, the expansion being regulated by suitable expansion-valves and the exhaust taking place through separate valves. During the expansion in the cylinder M the air does work in assisting to compress the air in cylinders G and C, and during this practically adiabatic expansion the working air becomes cooled to a temperature depending on the initial pressure and temperature,and the amount of expansion is so regulated that the air is cooled to a temperature a little lower than that of the refrigerating-room, say to a temperature of 36 eentigrade or 238 absolute. The air then passes by the pipe N to the surface condenser O.

The air of the refrigerating-chamber is driven and delivered by blowers U U through the tubes in the surface condenser O. The temperature of the working air on its passage through the condenser O to pipe I is thus raised nearly to that of the refrigeratingroom, say from a temperature of 238 absolute to a temperature of 252 absolute. The air is drawn off through the pipe P to the second expanding-cylinder Q, where it is again allowed to expand till its pressure falls to about forty pounds per square inch absolute and work in assisting to drive the compressors O and G, the expansion being regulated by means of any approved expansion-valve and the temperature of the air falling to 238 absolute. The expanded air then exhausts from the cylinder Q through pipe R at a lower temperature than that of the cooling chamber-nan1ely, 238 absoluteinto the surface condenser S. By the circulation of air by blowers U U through and from the tubes in the surface condenser the temperature of the air is again raised during its passage from the pipe B through the condenser to the pipe T to the temperature 252 absolute. The air, having completed the cycle, is reduced to its initial pressure and temperature and is consequently ready to go through the same process again. It must be distinctly understood that the pressures and temperatures given above are subject to alteration according to circumstances, the efliciency of the plant becoming greater as the range of temperature is reduced. The compressors and expanders are double-acting and may be constructed of any suitable material, while the walls and covering or roofing of the cooling-chambers V V and the outer walls W WV may be insulated with any suitable non-conductor.

I would also have it understood that I may employ any suitable fluid in lieu of air, as hereinbefore referred to, to fulfil the functions of the working 1nediumz'. e., the medium employed in the'closed cycle which is to be compressed, cooled, and expanded, as,

aforesaid.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,

I declare that what I claim is The combination substantially as described in a cooling and refrigerating apparatus, of the two engines G and C, the compressioncylinder 0 and eXpansion-cylinderQ in line with engine 0 and connected therewith, the compression-cylinder G and expansion-cylinder M in line with engine G and connected therewith, the tank E the condensers E and K located in said tank, pipe D connecting compression-cylinder O and condenser E,pipe F connecting condenser E and cylinder G, pipe H connecting cylinder G with condenser K, pipe L connecting condenser K with expansion-cylinder M, a refrigerating-chamber, two coolers O and S located therein, a pipe N connecting the cooler O with expansion-cylinder M, the pipe P connecting the cooler O and the cylinder Q and the pipe R connecting cylinder Q with the cooler S, and a pipe T connecting the cooler S with the compression-cylinder O, as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed this 6th day of May, 1895.

BERNHARD ALEXANDER SMITH.

Witnesses A. HARKER, O. W. WADE. 

